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Sunday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 07:52:18 AM EST
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The Tour de France finishes up this morning riding to Paris and around the Champs d'Elysees. Alberto Contador is the winner.

Open Thread.

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    Sunday Morning Open Thread | 37 comments (37 topical)

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    Lance needs to retire (none / 0) (#1)
    by Saul on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:20:26 AM EST
    Enough already.  His ego must be to big.  He should have quit when he won his last race.  To me it seems his ego and greed are backfiring on him.

    From what I've read he has been (none / 0) (#2)
    by ruffian on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:35:13 AM EST
    a big help to the other members of his team this year. He has been riding as a support rider to the leaders on his team after it was clear he did not have a shot. He may or may not retire - I don't care either way - but if he still loves to ride and has a part to play, I can't see asking him to retire.

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    I agree (none / 0) (#7)
    by jbindc on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:58:34 AM EST
    Bet most of the people in the entire world could only name Lance Armstrong and the sport of cycling.  Only those who actually follow it could name anyone else.  Once Lance goes - will anyone pay attention to the Tour?

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    Will anyone pay attention? (none / 0) (#32)
    by Nemi on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 04:56:18 PM EST
    You mean except for us pesky foreigners outside of the US? ;)

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    He's been useless (none / 0) (#10)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:23:32 AM EST
    and he is retiring.

    The Comeback was not what he expected.

    A triathlete next year.

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    Disagree. (none / 0) (#3)
    by Angel on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:40:06 AM EST
    Seven time winner, cancer survivor, great ambassador for the sport - and you say he needs to retire because he has a big ego and is greedy???  He's given back so much to this world.  Please provide something to back up your comment.

    Parent
    All true (none / 0) (#33)
    by Nemi on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 05:17:23 PM EST
    ... but he should have retired from The Tour to save himself from embarrassment this year.

    Actually he seemed to think so himself. At one point in the second week in one of his many crashes, another rider toppled on top of him but immediately apologized. Lance Armstrong told him not to worry, admitting that he just couldn't wait to go back home and have pizza and a beer. And added: "I'm getting too old for this." See? :)

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    Meter Maids... (none / 0) (#4)
    by kdog on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:46:58 AM EST
    are notorious for their power trips, but this piece of work Danny Chu takes the cake...seems half of Queens has been tyrannized by this arsehole...includng a city councilman, which is probably the only reason he's getting so much bad press.

    Don Mike Bloomberg seems cool with how this foot soldier in his crime family rolls...city needs money and the muscle is delivering with summonses and fines.  

    probably some kind of compensation (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Capt Howdy on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:43:45 AM EST
    for the whole "meter maid" thing.  
    you know, like the male lady bug in a bugs life.


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    Beats me... (none / 0) (#35)
    by kdog on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 08:57:22 PM EST
    what he's so ornery about...yeah, meter maid pay sucks but 20 years work for 40 years retirement is something us private sector slobs could only dream of.

    Lighten up dude...you won.  Show some gratitude to the cats funding your sweetheart deal...for real.

    Parent

    Oops... (none / 0) (#5)
    by kdog on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:47:30 AM EST
    Linkage

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    LOL- john Fund on CBS round table on race (none / 0) (#6)
    by ruffian on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 09:58:17 AM EST
    He has twice quoted one statement ver batim by a civil rights leader name I believe Mary Barry (could be wrong on that) who said that the tea party is no more racist than the rest of the Republican party. he took that as a positive statement.  I wonder if she meant what he thinks she meant.

    Perhaps Dr. Mary Frances Berry (none / 0) (#8)
    by Cream City on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:09:09 AM EST
    the historian and former chair and longest-serving member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission?  (I have read some of her works, heard her speak, etc.)  

    If so, I suspect that Mr. Fund is deluding himself.  Or attempting to delude others.  Or both.

    Parent

    Thank you- that was who he quoted (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by ruffian on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 02:11:28 PM EST
    If I could see the context of the quote I would bet lunch that it   means what I would mean if I said it.

    Fund was so proud of it. I was cracking up.

    Parent

    Hey (none / 0) (#9)
    by jbindc on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:17:12 AM EST
    Joe Biden said the Tea Party is not a racist party either.

    WASHINGTON -- The tea party is not a racist group, says Vice President Joe Biden, though he believes that some of those involved in the movement have expressed racist views.

    "Very conservative, very different views on government and a whole lot of things," Biden said during an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "But it is not a racist organization."

    President Barack Obama doesn't think so, either, Biden said.



    Parent
    Yeah (none / 0) (#17)
    by squeaky on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 11:01:04 AM EST
    Pretty much what the NAACP said. Do you disagree? I don't.

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    I must be missing something (none / 0) (#28)
    by NYShooter on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 03:47:59 PM EST
    Is there now a difference between a "racist" and one who tolerates "racists?"

    Not for me

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    Joe Biden.. (none / 0) (#29)
    by jondee on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 04:06:24 PM EST
    maybe the larger point is that organizations galvanized by anger and fear and the demagoguery of powerful outside influences - with minimal evidence within the organization of insight into the actual causes of the anger and fear and the motivations of the demagogues - have always and everywhere been breeding grounds for racism.

     

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    Sounds like MFB might (none / 0) (#11)
    by brodie on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:35:51 AM EST
    is almost coming to the defense of the Tea Party, while castigating Dems for petty racial politics

    Tainting the tea party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans. But getting them to spend their time purging their ranks and having candidates distance themselves should help Democrats win in November. Having one's opponent rebut charges of racism is far better than discussing joblessness.

    I think MFB's rather GOP-friendly attitude here isn't all that surprising -- she's had a long, curious track record of making quirky, controversial statements from both the right and left sides of the spectrum, and has angered activists on the left in the recent past.  Describes herself as a political independent.
     

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    Really? That last sentence (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Cream City on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 11:20:53 AM EST
    is telling to me:  She is calling out any pols who are trying to distract us from the difficult issues of the day that the pols can do something about, and now.  

    Race, gender, religion, etc., are so often used by pols to deflect from discussions of economic class and to divide us rather than to have us discover our commonalities.  (See:  Shirley Sherrod.)

    Parent

    Last I checked, race is (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by brodie on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 11:48:18 AM EST
    still one of those "difficult issues of the day" in this country, as l'affaire Sherrod just demonstrated.  And just because there are still other pressing problems out there, jobs being one of them, shouldn't preclude people from speaking out on other things.  

    Besides, speaking of doing something about a problem right now,  the NAACP-TP brouhaha did result in the rather quick ouster by the nat'l TP org of the head of the TPExpress (with assistance from the racist leader himself).  

    MFB sounds like she was listening too much to her inner Republican.  It would be interesting to hear her comment on the fired Mark Williams and also the Sherrod matter.  But all we have so far is her few sentences I quoted.

    Parent

    Of course, but I said more than that (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by Cream City on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 11:55:21 AM EST
    which you omit:  that pols can do something about now.

    Keeping in mind that the former chair and longest-serving member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission is well aware of what laws can do and can't do, what else is needed to effect societal change, etc.

    That. Pols. Can. Do. Something. About. Now.

    Parent

    The charge can always (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by brodie on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 12:18:51 PM EST
    be made that pols are talking issue x because they don't want to deal with issue y which they could act upon but won't.  It's technically true, but misleading in most instances, as here.  I think a fair reading of MFB is that she's less concerned about pols tackling the jobs issue than she is that some on the left might make political gains at the expense of the GOP by speaking the truth on race.

    As I say, I suspect MFB has more conservative in her than some might realize.

    As for doing something about jobs, now, yes and no.  I think the Obama admin and Dems in Congress should be putting together a very strong jobs-creation second stimulus package, but again they run up against the 60 vote situation, and where will they get the extra GOP votes.  They should try however, and use it as another issue in Nov if they fall short.  But saying it's doable, now, is far from the truth.

    Parent

    Forgot to add: (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by brodie on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 12:28:43 PM EST
    And while they do more to improve the job situation, Dems, pols, the Obama admin, and activist orgs like the NAACP should never back down from speaking about race when necessary -- however much it seems to annoy people like MFB.  

    Parent
    Well, yes, I also do hope that (4.00 / 3) (#27)
    by Cream City on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 02:59:22 PM EST
    the super-smart prez and his U of Chicago brain trust can walk and chew gum at the same time.

    But back to Dr. Berry:  We just are reading her remarks quite differently.  You are welcome to your interpretation . . . but it does seem to come with quite the value-laden prejudgment of her, for some reason.  Have you read any of her work?  As I have, perhaps that is why I have a different sense of where she is coming from -- and where she hopes that we go.  But then, perhaps you have read her work, and it didn't sit well with you, either.

    Whichever:  You are not persuading me, so I will let you go -- as I really do not put a high priority on persuading you as to my interpretation.

    Parent

    Oh, for pity's sake, sher (4.00 / 4) (#31)
    by Cream City on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 04:39:34 PM EST
    snark
    snark
    snark
    snark
    snark

    I mean, even those with nowhere near Obama's IQ can handle thinking about more than one item on the societal agenda.

    Parent

    I don't see her saying they are not racist (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by ruffian on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 02:16:28 PM EST
    They are just about the same amount racist as other Repulicans, and indeed many other Americans. if I were John Fund I would not be trumpeting that as some kind of vindication.

    it has always been my view that the tea party is basically the Republican right.

    Parent

    the next governor of TN? (none / 0) (#12)
    by Capt Howdy on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:36:13 AM EST
    we all pray to god and say amen.

    indeed

    I was just (none / 0) (#14)
    by brodie on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:42:38 AM EST
    thinking Alvin Greene when I looked below the vid screen ...

    Parent
    someone (none / 0) (#16)
    by Capt Howdy on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:44:26 AM EST
    suggested a debate

    Parent
    a smooth sailin now (none / 0) (#13)
    by Capt Howdy on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:42:16 AM EST
    Johnston, 20, who is Bristol Palin's fiance, has agreed to appear in the video with singer-songwriter Brittani Senser next month in Los Angeles.

    According to a written description of the video's story line, the couple share tender moments before they are driven apart by the young woman's mother.

    Asked if there might be concerns about Sarah Palin's reaction to the project, Butler replied: "I don't think we're going to be concerned about what Gov. Palin would want.



    Who Is A Jew? (none / 0) (#18)
    by squeaky on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 11:20:12 AM EST
    Really interesting Ha'aretz article about the "Conversion Law" debacle which was just scuttled for another six months, due to US Conservative and Reform Jewish lobbying pressure.

    But there is nothing new about any of this, the "Who is a Jew?" controversy has been with us since David Ben-Gurion's days and it will never be solved. The ultra-Orthodox establishment will never recognize a convert who did not go through the hell of their Batei Din (rabbinical courts ) as a Jew, (and even then, it will remain a stigma for life - have you ever heard of a ger getting a shidduch with a Haredi rabbi's daughter? ) and their word will remain law as long as they have preponderance among the religious. The demography is clear - that won't change in our lifetime.

    They should stop trying to compete with the Orthodox as there will never be a level playing field, and embrace the concept that rabbis are not the ones who should decide who can be part of a Jewish community.

    In America and a few places elsewhere, this idea has worked well for many federations and temples who stopped whining about assimilation, and instead began welcoming spouses and children of mixed marriages. The problem of conversion in Israel should be tackled in the same way. "Who is a Jew" is an obsolete concept and fighting over it takes us again and again down a dead-end alley.

    For example:

    The inability, or unwillingness, to meet the needs of more than 300,000 [mostly Russian] immigrants who are not Jewish according to halakha has been a frustrating problem for many years. These immigrants cannot convert even if they want to because they must promise to maintain a religious lifestyle. Then Yisrael Beiteinu went and submitted a conversion bill that faced a wall of political and media opposition
    .
    I wonder if Arthur Koestler (4.00 / 1) (#30)
    by jondee on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 04:26:37 PM EST
    were still alive, would he, by now, be writing The God That Failed II: Zionism?

    I think there's a high likelihood.

    Parent

    Soon we will not have Tony Hayward (none / 0) (#26)
    by KeysDan on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 02:49:50 PM EST
    to kick around anymore. His parachute is being packed and awaits just a little more gilding -and he will be gone. Like Rodney Dangerfield, he just does not get any respect, and this, despite BP showing a $10 billion profit in the face of an unfortunate incident in the Gulf of Mexico.   None-the-less, he is going to be replaced probably by an American  so as to tidy things up a bit.  While they will search high and low for a replacement I hope they do not overlook a good man right under their noses---Ken Salazar.  In addition to his interest in oil and his demonstrated leadership in times of crisis, he would offer a smooth transition from his present position as Secretary of Interior to  that of spearheading BP's offshore drilling and all other things oil.  

    If you have a chance, see this play at the (none / 0) (#34)
    by oculus on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 06:22:41 PM EST
    Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center in downtown L.A.:  link

    Wish I could (none / 0) (#36)
    by ruffian on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:16:11 PM EST
    I saw i think 2 of McDanagh's Leenane plays at the Denver Center in my previous life. Great writer! Until I followed your link I had no idea he was the writer / director of the film 'In Bruges', which I have not yet seen. anyway, glad you enjoyed it- I was just talking to a friend in SoCal yesterday about visiting soon. maybe it will still be playing.  

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    I absolutely loved "In Bruges," (none / 0) (#37)
    by oculus on Sun Jul 25, 2010 at 10:27:27 PM EST
    which I expected to be a film subtitled in French, slow, etc.  It is very funny.  Hated "Beauty Queen," but maybe I didn't realize it was supposed to be dark humor.  I think "Lieutenant" may close August 8.

    Parent
    Sunday Morning Open Thread | 37 comments (37 topical)

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